Sirane's Sous-Vide Packaging: Hassle Free and Taste Preserving

The BBC’s Supermarket Secrets show put sous-vide packaging under the spotlight this week. A product from Sirane could be a perfect fit with this growing trend – sous-vide packaging that can subsequently be oven-roasted without opening the pack.

BBC One’s show saw presenter Gregg Wallace visit a Scottish producer looking to perfect a ‘ready to cook’ product: a Moroccan-spiced joint of lamb cooked sous-vide – the meat could simply be ‘finished’ by the consumer in a fraction of the normal cooking time.

Simon Balderson, Sirane MD, said: “Our Siralon Sous-Vide packaging fits perfectly with any producers or retailers looking to develop this type of product. In fact, it’s won awards overseas which is testament to just how good the food cooked this way tastes.

“This is a nylon sous-vide pack, which means the product can be cooked sous-vide, shipped to store for sale, and subsequently cooked – all in the same pack, without the need to open it. Handling is kept to an absolute minimum, while taste and flavour is maximum.”

The Sira-CookTM PA Sous-Vide bag ‘combining sous vide with roasting’ earned a food company a top award at the Australian Foodmagazine awards a few years ago.Grab and Go Hot Country Roasts by Creative Food Solutions – which is supplied into supermarkets including Woolworths - won the Meat and Smallgoods category.Jeremy said: “Creative Food Solutions truly managed to take advantage of our Sira-CookTM PA Sous-Vide bag to create a great product which deservedly bagged an award.“We’re sure there’s plenty of opportunity for producers here in the UK to develop similar products which will prove just as successful, as it’s a real good concept.“Their cuts of meat were bagged, vacuum sealed and slowly cooked sous-vide style for up to 12 hours. The product was then heated for around hour in store – leaving the customer with a product they simply need to brown in the oven for a short time once they return home before serving up a succulent tasty meal that would have taken hours.

“This is exactly the sort of solution that the producer on Supermarket Secrets was developing – and one which could become commonplace as sous-vide continues to gain momentum.

“The tests on the TV show demonstrated just how good food cooked sous-vide tastes. It’s is remarkably tender, and it really is almost ‘melt in your mouth’ for consumers.”Creative Food Solutions' Grab and Go Hot Country Roasts are available in three flavours: Australian Beef, Lamb and Pork - all ethically raised. The boneless roasts are rubbed with a marinade and herbs prior to cooking then pan seared to seal in the juices.

“The result,” said Jeremy, “is a consistently tender and moist roast. This is an ideal product for Sunday lunches, buffets, bistros and functions. The premium roast range can also be finely sliced and served as cold cuts with salads and for gourmet sandwiches.

“It could be used in mass catering just as effectively as single roasts for the family. Another major advantage is that it reduces the need for the product to be handled.“The material is also absorbent, reducing excess fat and allowing the product to crisp.”

Creative Food Solutions produces a range of sous vide roasts that it supplies on a large scale to ex-servicemen clubs and age care facilities, and has now developed a smaller 1kg roast meat range designed to be sold in conjunction with the currently expanding roast chicken market which supermarkets including Woolworths have developed over the past few years.

Vac-packing the meat has allowed Creative Food Solutions to offer 28 days shelf-life.The company worked with Sirane’s Australian agents to combine sous vide, normally reserved for the hospitality industry, with an "ovenable" reheat bag, allowing the meat to be slow cooked and browned for meal time without any mess in an oven.